Bullet for high-power rifles



June 4, 1929. 5, RQUSSEAU 1,715,788

BULLET FOR HIGH POWER RIFLES Original Filed July 7. 1921 Patented June4, 1929.

UNITED- STATES PA T,

STANISLAS ROUSSEAU, or, ALTON, ILLINOIS, nssrenon TQ wnsmnnonagpmneaCOMPANY, or EAST rron, ILLINOIS, A oonrona'r o tor 'nnnawnjnn,

BULLET FOR men-rownamrgnns,

Continuation of application Serial No. 482,992, filed m 1921i 4 192a.semu 110,660,792.

This invention relates to .bulletsfor high power rifles, and moreparticularly to bullets of that type adapted to expand upon 'im act.This application is a continuation of N 2,992, filed July 7, 1921.

Bullets of the expandin type adapted for sporting rifles, as hereto oremade depend for theireflect upon the translation of the kinetic energy,due to the velocity of the bullet, into energy used up, or, as it isusually called in this sense, shock. Accordingly such bullets are formedto spread or assume the form of a mushroom immediately upon impact; afurther increase in diameter taking place as the bullet meetswith'resista-nce upon its course, until when expanded beneath the hideof an animal, it will have'beenfully expanded, This, of course, meansthat;

the greater part of the energy stored in the bullet will be used up atimpact and in making a cruel but superficial wound, while the Vitals ofthe animal will not be reached, The points of such bullets are,therefor'e, de liberately so formed as to be unstable and so as tospread upon impact, thepoint being soft,hollow and even slit in order tosecure that result; Such points do not, of course, penetratethe hidewithout-deformation, but

' the very object of their formation is the opposite, namely, to causethe tips to open up and s read.

One 0 the objects of this invention, therefore, is to provide a bulletfor. highfpo'wer rifles which will penetrate without-deformation butwhich after such penetration will expand or. distend and even becomedis? rupted,

Another object of this invention is to-provide a bullet for highv powerrifleswhich will readily penetrate the hide and bone of an animal, butwhich when reaching the Vitals, will expand and, become/disrupted withgreat destructive effect. V x

Another object of this invention is to provide abullet ofthe characterdescribediwhose accuracy is not impaired but even improved and is,therefore, adapted for riflepractice as well as suitable for huntingpurposes,

Further objects will appear from the detail description, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation of a bullet embodying this invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section;

, Figure' 3; is a longitudinal vertical section showingthe bullet afterhaving been fired from a high power rifle, butfat-areduced1 This agplicgtign 1 15a; September 4,'

and more particularly to Figures 1 and 2,

the bullet embodying this invention is a jacketed bullet ofthejtypefdesigned for use in high power rifles; accordingly 7 it; ispointed and of theusual 'de'sign, except as hereinafter described, Thejacket 1 of copper or copperalloy, contai'n's the core 2-of lead; orlead alloy, and this jacket isof suflicient strength to"withstand"passage through the rifle, at the required high velocit ,withoutsplitting, stopping-or tea ring, w ile the core, being f 1eaa;*oraeadalloy, is soft and malleable. The point of-thebullet, however,-terminatesi-n a slightly bluntf tip 3,-but if this point wereextendediasshown in dotted lines,the bullet as a Wholewould form theoutline of a, sharp pointed bullet-as ordinarily usedifor highipowersporting-rifles,

-Now' the point is provided? with a cavity 12 which is open at the-tipand whichy'extends axially in the core." Thiscavity 'i's properlyproportioned'to secure the desired resultas hereinafter 'described'gfthus for a .30'0'6 Springfield of 150;or 180 1grains, a cavity diameterof 0.55 inch and .375"f' inch depth have been found'suitable Prefe'rably also the jacket is cannelured' asshown at-,"pref erably Wheretheipoint' joins or merges-into the body of thelbiilleth Itwillbe'partici V larly noted that the jacket is comparatively 7 heavy, evenat the point" and tip; accordingly, although the 7-point is hollow andopen, it-is stable, that is, it is of suflicient stability to penetrateeven solid target, such; as] the hide. of an animal, without mushroomingpr deforming; accordingly, the bullet has a.

mushrooming point; r j V V The effect and performance, of this bulletare striking, U'ponl referring to Figure 3',

penetrating point as distinguished from a which shows'the bulletshownin'Figures 1 i and 2, after, having beenifiredfinto a soft target, such asthe flesh'ofan animal, but at a reduced velocity, it will be seen,'thatwhile the point, and more especially the tip, re

mains practically undeformed, thei'base of the point and where it mergesinto the body of the bullet has become distended; -moreover the cavityhas become expanded and inflated, both laterally and axially,especially' towards the base, while the forward part of the cavity 'ispractically unalteredf In fact'it seems that the interior of the cavity,which forms a pocket, has been subj ected to an internal pressurecausingexpansion or inflation of thecavity and therefore distension of thebullet.

Figure 4; shows the bullet of Figures 1 and 2 .Wl16I1 fiI6 Cl at highvelocity and at close, range into a soft target such as the flesh andVitals, as the heart, of an, animal. It will be seen that the bullet hasbecome entirely disrupted, and an examination-of the fragments showsthat the cavity has expanded until the bullet has become so far extendedas todisrupt. Now it will be noted that the cannelure 5 provides. aweakened section extending circumferentially of the jacket at the polntwhere the greatest expansiontakes place, as will be seen in'Figure 8.Accordingly the bullet when .extended to its limit, will disrupt andtear alongtheweakened line as shown in Figure 4. It will, however, againbe noted that the point and more particularly the tip, is substantiallyundeformed, except that the drivin forceof theenergy stored the bullethas somewhat; flattened the point laterally, while the jacket part ofthe body and the core; part therein have become totally disrupted andflattened uponfurther passage through the animal tissues. I

While an explanation of the theory of operation is unnecessary, andwhile this invention is not limited to any particular theory, thefollowing explanation is, advanced: Whena bullet such as describedpasses through soft tissues, these will work into the cavity, especiallyduring the rapid rotation of the bullet. There will thus be formed apiston which not only traps the air, already under high pressure, in Ithe pocket thus formed, but the semi-liquid tissues will themselves. acthydraulically. These will under the rapidly increasing pressure exnandor inflate the pocketin a mannersimilar to the action taking place whena bottle is blown from the neck. The core is moreover probablyin asomewhat plastic state in the body part of the bullet, due to thecontact of the body jacket part with the bore of the gun, while thepoint will be more cool. The result is, therefore, that the cavity 1sexpanded causing extension of .tl1e .bullet, and

where the velocityat impact is sufficiently high, the expansion andextension is carried on until the bullet becomes disrupted or explodes;this disruptionis furthermore. facilitated by the presence of thecannelure which j forms a weak and more easily severed section.

While the bullet embodyingthis invention becomes distended while passingthrough softtissues, such as flesh and blood, and even the hide, noappreciable distension takes place when-it isfire'd into 'asolid targetsuch as wood'or bone. This is probably due to the fact that the hard andfibrous partlcles of wood or bone, in entering the II cavity, becomewedged therein, similarly as sand wedges in a pipe; accordingly theexpansion of the cavity andthe distension of the'bullet will beunappreciable; this is borne out by the actual appearance of a cut openbullet so fired. The bullet will, therefore, pass clearly through asolidtarget.

It will, therefore, be. seen that the invention accomplishes itsobjects. A bullet isprovided. which is ideal for sporting purposesgenerally. .It is entirely suitable for target practice, since itsformation does not detract from its. accuracy as is the case with softnosed bullets. In view of the fact that it has great penetrating powerit will pass through bone and other solid obstructionswith great effect.It does not flatten uponimpact withthe hide of an animal, even if toughand thick, but thepoint being stablewill readil pass therethrough. Uponencountering so t tissues, however, it will become expanded anddistended, and will even disrupt with a practically explosive action,andwith great disruptive effect upon the Vitals oftheanimal, .or of. theobject which it penetrates. I I I While one embodiment ofthis inventionhas been specifically described and illustrated, it will .be obviousthat this invention is capable of development in other embodiments. Itis further obvious that various changes may be made in details withoutdeparting from the spirit ofthis invention;

it is, therefore, to be understood that this invention is not to belimited tothe specific details shown and described.

Having thus described. the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A jacketed bullet for highpower sport- 4 ing rifles having a point ofsufficient. stability to penetrate the game without mushrooming andwhich has an open cavity extending back from the tip to provide anexpansible pocket adapted to distend the bullet after such penetration.I Y

i 2. A jacketed bullet for high power sporting rifles having acontinuous game penetrating point provided with an open cavity andweakened to expand so as to distend the bullet at the base of the pointafter such penetration. I

I 3. A jacketed bullet for high power sporting rifles having astablegame penetrating point open at the tip,hollowed'rearwardly therefrom andweakened back of the tip, being thereby adapted upon impact to expandback of the tip in order to distend the bullet at the base of the pointafter such penetration.

4. A jacketed bullet for high power sporting rifles having a stable gamepenetrating point provided with a cavity and weakened so as to expandupon impact in order to distend the bullet after such penetration.

5. A jacketed bullet for high power sporting rifles having a stable gamepenetrating point which has a cavity open to the tip and extendingrearwardly to provide, a pocket expanding after impact in order todistend the bullet after such penetration.

6. A jacketed bullet for high power rifles whose jacket is weakened backof the tip and having a stable penetrating point pro vided with a cavityadapted to expand upon impact in order to distend the bullet.

7 A jacketed bullet for high power rifles whose jacket is weakened backof the tip 8. A jacketed bullet for high power sporting rifles having apointof suflicient stability to penetrate the game without mushroomingand having a cavity extending axially in the core and open at the tip,said cavity being expansible in order to distend the bullet after suchpenetration;

9. A jacketed bullet forhigh power rifles whose jacket is weakened backof the tip and having a stable penetrating point provided a with acavity extending axially in the core and open at the tip.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature this 23rd day of August, 1923.

STANISLAS ROUSSEAU.

